The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office received two bear calls in February, one on Feb. 14 at Twining Flats and another on Feb. 23 at Holland Hills.
Typically it’s the solo males that come out of their dens first, preferring to start with grass and insects, Xaiz said.
Sometimes they find a carcass, or a fawn or baby elk hiding in the grass, she said, though 90% of their diet is vegetarian.
Next the single females usually arise, followed by mama bears with yearling cubs, and then the mamas with cubs born over the winter.
Over the past decade, “the community has gotten much better at securing trash,” Xiaz said. “They don’t have as many easy targets.”
But the bears have also adapted, she said. “They are on to us.”
Electric fences are effective at keeping bears out of chicken coops and beehives and away from small livestock, said Roaring Fork Bear Coalition co-founder Daniela Kohl, but it is important to check those fences daily.
Xiaz encourages people to use the 970-920-2327 hotline to report unsecured trash or other easy targets. If a situation is more urgent, the hotline will connect the caller to dispatch.
“Early intervention is important,” she said, adding that she prefers to solve problems for residents, visitors and businesses before the bears come. “The earlier we know about things the better.”
The city has trash cans for loan, as well as electrified mats that keep bears from entering homes, she said.
Colorado’s two-strike policy authorizes Colorado Parks and Wildlife to tag and relocate a bear that’s been reported as a nuisance. Entering a home or breaking into a vehicle is an example of a nuisance bear’s behavior. Bears tagged a second time can be put down.
However nuisance bears do not fall into the same category as “dangerous bears,” or bears who pose a threat to human safety, or “depredating bears,” or bears who have killed or injured livestock, explained Rachel Gonzales, public information officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
“Nuisance bears are those bears that could pose an immediate threat to property or cause damage, but do not pose a threat to public safety,” said Gonzales. “It is important to understand that each situation is unique, and the actions taken by CPW depend on the specific circumstances of each incident. While CPW may relocate a bear when deemed appropriate, the majority of bears classified as nuisance bears do not require management actions by CPW.”
Early reporting is what can change human behavior, “helping keep bears wild and people safe,” Xaiz emphasized.
The issues regarding bears and their interactions with the community are about much more than keeping bears from returning to town and minimizing conflict.
“Trash is very bad for them,” Xaiz said, describing how consuming things like plastic can block bears’ digestive systems and in some cases require euthanization.
Attacks on humans are very, very rare, she said. “Conflict can occur when bears feel cornered and are trying to get away. It’s always best to give them plenty of space and back away.”
Kohl describes bears as “big scary chickens … they will run away from a cat.”
Xaiz and Kohl recommended making a lot of loud noises if you do see a bear — whether with a car horn, loud voices, air horn or banging pots and pans. But, it’s important to do those things from a safe place and distance.
“Scare the bear,” Kohl said. “Make a lot of noise. Tell them in a loud voice to ‘go away!’ and ‘don’t come back!’ Basically tell him that he’s not welcome. Even when you see one for the first time, it’s a good way of marking boundaries. That’s what they are used to.”
Both Xaiz and Kohl commended the high level of bear awareness in the Roaring Fork Valley.
“In general, our community does really well,” Xaiz said.
“Every year people are making more of an effort,” Kohl said. “They are proactive. They want to stay a step ahead of the bears — which is difficult because bears are smart and they always pick up new tricks.”
Bears have what Kohl calls a “GPS memory,” meaning they learn the location of food sources and will keep coming back, for years, even if that food source is no longer there or no longer as easily accessible.
The baby bears learn everything from their mamas, she said. The mother bears will show babies the places where she’s found food in the past.
It isn’t the arrival of snow that pushes bears into winter slumber, explained Gonzales.
“Rather it’s the lack of a natural food source that signals it’s time to head into the den for black bears to conserve the calories they packed on during the fall,” she said.
Nor is it the melting of the snow that entices them out in the spring, Gonzales said, but rather the renewed availability of natural food.
And bears don’t technically hibernate. They enter a state of “torpor,” defined as a “state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually marked by a reduced body temperature and metabolic rate.”
Bears in colder climates tend to stay in their dens longer than those in warmer climates.
Kohl said she’s noticing progressively shorter hibernation (or torpor) seasons for bears. Even around the Christmas season, there can be reports of bears getting into trash in town, she said.
Whether this year’s low snowfall, record-warm temperatures and drought conditions will lead to a summer “food failure” remains to be seen, Xiaz said. The berries that bears rely on need spring moisture, but the health of the serviceberry and chokecherry crops won’t be known until June. Lack of moisture in addition to a late snow or freeze in May or June can hurt the berry crop.
And, the fall acorn crop will depend on summer moisture.
During the 2024 natural foods failure, Xaiz recalls bears pulling over large metal dumpsters and bending the bars. “They will go to greater lengths than normal,” she said, and that means they also are more prone to get into cars and homes.
This year, the hope is for more spring moisture, a strong berry crop and the continued evolution of human behavior.
Visit the Roaring Fork Bear Coalition website at roaringforkbears.org or call 970-920-2327.